Hiding the Pain
by ThisLittleGeek
Summary: Hinata Shouyou, the hyperactive ray of sunshine of Karasuno. With his emotions put proudly on display constantly, nobody would ever guess that he could be hiding anything from them, until something happens during practice one stormy afternoon. something that could change how that little sunshine is seen by his peers forever.
1. Prolouge

****Disclaimer: I do not own Haikyuu! or any of it's characters****

3rd POV

Hinata wasn't a fool, he knew something was strange when it all started. But he was at the young age of six and didn't understand what was happening to him, so he waved it off. He figured that since his mother never said anything about it, then it must be okay. Besides, when he complained about his headaches, she told him there's no way he could have a headache everyday. So this couldn't be anything that important, right?

Years passed, and things got worse for Hinata. It happened more often than it used to, often times stronger and more sudden as well. His mother still unaware of these occurrences had no idea that anything was wrong. After all, Hinata was acting normal, he was always happy, and she never noticed anything strange about when he suddenly had to hold onto something after standing.

By the time the little sunshine became a second year in junior high, he knew that there was definitely something wrong, it wasn't just limited to a few seconds anymore, it was able to last for days and days. It honestly scared him, he knew this couldn't continue this way, so he went to his mother. After telling her, her eyes widened more than thought physically possible, and she took him to the doctors office. He left with supplements that should help him function.

In third year, he played a match against Kitagawa Daiichi, a match that he lost. Due to both the inexperience of the Yukigurka team, and his own abilities being hindered by his 'issue'. It was becoming difficult for him to hide it, but all he had to do was keep acting like everything was okay. The boy didn't want to worry anyone with his problems, so he put up an act. Luckily, he had already been putting up a partial act, so this wasn't to difficult to do.

Now he's a first year at Karasuno High School, as well a number 10 on the volleyball team. So far he has managed to hide his problems from the rest of the team, but for how much longer? It's been growing worse, and now he's constantly hurting from it. So, how much longer can the little ball of sunshine keep up his charade? More importantly, how will everyone else react to learning of his 'issues'?

 **(A/N I have also posted this on Wattpad under the same name as _ThisLittleGeek_. Please don't accuse me of stealing this, it is my creation.)**


	2. Chapter 1

****Disclaimer: As much as I wish I did, I don't own Haikyuu! or any of it's characters. That honor belongs to Haruichi Furudate.****

3rd POV

Hinata knew it was going to be a difficult day, rain was in the forcast for during his practice, and his symptoms always grew worse around times of bad weather, especially when the weather actually was happening.

But he pushed on, ignoring the pain as best he could through the day. It wasn't until 4:47 PM that the rain actually began, right in the middle of practice.

Line Break

Sugawara wasn't blind, he had noticed that Hinata would make a slight change of expression when using his right leg. He had noticed Hinata would let a grimace through once he thought nobody was looking, he just didn't know what was causing it.

He saw that Hinata would limp at times and occasionally caught a glimpse of sports tape on his shoulders. He noticed that he would sometimes massage an area, as if he had just hurt it, but never said a word. What worried him most however was the fact that Hinata seemed to be covered in bruises, though most were only noticed due to them being hit. It concerned him, but he didn't know how to approach the boy.

He just hoped that Hinata would tell him soon. It was a well known but unspoken fact of the team that Sugawara was the mother of the team, and was slightly protective of his baby birds. So for him to have to bare witness to one of his babies in silent pain, for months at this point, and not to be able to do a thing was worse than torture.

Line Break

Hinata walked home alone slowly after practice, thinking about his 'little' issue. He had hoped to keep it secret for much longer, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could hide it. He knew Sugawara was already suspicious and he had noticed concerned looks from many of his teammates, not that they knew he saw them.  
He had even noticed Kageyama's eyes held concern and his actions were slightly gentler.

Hinata stopped where he stood and looked up, unnoticed tears streamed down his face as he smiled a rueful smile. "Well then... I guess I don't have a choice." , he said with a voice filled with pain. His biggest fear was coming for him faster than a bullet train, and he prayed to Kami-sama that it wouldn't be a repeat of last time, because Hinata knew it wouldn't just be a possible relapse, but a complete shatter of his heart worse than any pain he had felt before.

But Hinata knew it was either he tell, or they search. Even so, he pushed it off, if only he knew just how soon the answer would reveal to his team. If only he knew that life decided to yet again go against his wishes. The only thing now is, how will the team handle this?


	3. Chapter 2

****Disclaimer: I don't own Haikyuu! or any of it's characters****

 ** **3rd POV****  
It had started out as a normal practice, things were going great that day. Hinata hadn't had too many bad pain flares, he was dizzier than normal, but he was able to ignore it for the most part the worst part was he was worried he might 'twitch'. That wouldn't be something he could hide. It had been two weeks since Hinata had come to the realization of what he would soon have to do, and two weeks of rapidly worsening symptoms,unfortunately that meant that 'not too many' flare ups was equal to a slightly high amount two weeks ago.

The side effects were creeping up on him, and he knew he might not be able to hold out much longer. Between his minimum pain level having risen due to stress and increased insomnia, the insomnia and already present fatigue, and his act becoming more and more strained with each pop. It had merely been by luck that he only suffered from minor twitched thus far in the presence of others but based on experience he knew it would only be a matter of time before the already more frequent and violent twitches reared their ugly heads. He knew somewhere in his mind that he had at most a week before his teammates took matters into their own hands.

Hinata could see them sending worried glances towards him when they thought he couldn't see and felt a sharp pang in his heart with each one he caught. He hated that he had made them worried, hated he had lied to them for so long, and he hated that voice in his head telling him how those worried eyes would quickly turn to disgust as soon as they figured out even a small piece of this.

He sighed silently and discreetly popped his hip and ankle back in, the ankle from jumping and the hip had a very minor slip out when he landed. Hinata was just thankful that he could use his knee braces without question since they looked just like knee pads, and the same could be said about his elbow braces and his hidden rib brace. His mind focused on hiding any trace of pain that may try to slip through his mask, a task that he so desperately wished he wasn't so familiar with.

Line Break

Two days later and Hinata was mentally cursing his luck with enough vigor and creativity to make even the saltiest of sailors blush. It was Friday, which was already typically the hardest day on him, and it was pouring down rain. Anxiously, he made his way to the already empty locker room to change for practice, but just as he begins to open his locker his neck is jerking to the side as his left arm shot to his face before both shoulders locked uncomfortably. It took a little bit of time for everything to return to function and for Hinata to calm himself before he quickly dressed himself.

As he walked out he schooled his face into a smile and silently prayed to any god that would listen that he just could make it out of this without incidents, even though he knew that there was very little chance of this based on his rapidly fading peripheral vision.


	4. Chapter 3

****3rd POV****

Twenty minutes into practice and Hinata wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out. His vision was mostly black and everything sounded like he was underwater, his pain levels had reached the point he couldn't even make a cry for help if he had wanted to and he could see he was getting looks from the others as he panted heavily, heart thumping at easily 150's at this point. He gulped water down like a fish as the call came for a break and soon was forced to trek into the rain outside to refill his 48oz water bottle. He cupped a water little into his hand and wet his forehead and the back of his neck before returning, not noticing he was taking much longer than usual with legs of lead. He returned more than just a bit wet to say the least.

"Oi, Hinata boke! What the fuck is wrong with you?" came the crass remark from Kageyama as he walked back in. Despite his harsh words they didn't have nearly the same amount of bite they usually do as the teen attempted to hide his worry for the smaller boy. Kageyama had left the rest of the group across the gym and was about to leave to check on Hinata outside

Hinata did his best to smile convincingly with those heavy muscles, knowing the rest of the team was also watching in anticipation, before speaking between heavy huffs for air,"Wha-...do ya..mean Kage-...yama?"

The aforementioned teen gave him a look clearly expressing he wasn't buying it in a glare, "You're pale as shit dumbass! Then you walk out in this weather for water with that giant thing as your bottle! Not to mention you're breathing way to hard this early in! And why the fuck are you slowing down you're speech?!"

He was what?

Oh...

 _Fuck._

Hinata's eyes widened in surprise at that news as he finally took in the full extent of his symptoms. His peripherals had already completely left him, he was way too hot even for having been exercising, increased dizziness, weakness, heartrate refusing to slow even while resting, even heavier breathing than when he was running, and slowing speech. This was how it was going to be? This was how it would end? He prayed to Kami he was overreacting but knew what was about to happen...

"Kaggge...yaaaaam...don...fre...ou..."now noticing his own slow speech, he knew he had very little time.

Kageyama on the other hand was frustrated. "What the hell does that-!"

He was cut of by Hinata's begging stare and quivering lip, "I...sooo...re..." With a final look to his confused and worried teammates he cast them a small self-depreciating smile as his body finally collapsed under him.

 ** **What do you think he might have?****

 ** **(AN: I won't typically be able to quickly update this or any future stories I may do due to unfortunate health circumstances, currently I still have chapters I already posted on Wattpad but that won't always be the case. I will try my best but I have chronic illnesses and am a teen in school so I don't typically get optional things done quickly. I'd love to see any of your feedback on my story so far and hope you're enjoying it!)****


	5. Chapter 4

****Kageyama's POV****

Hinata has been acting strangely these past few weeks and I'm tired of it! That idiot is clearly hiding something at this point and if it's big enough to have this much effect on him then I-we need to know what's wrong. As much as I may not act like it I guess I've come to love that idiot's smiles too...

I'm going to talk to him during practice today, maybe he'll tell me. He looks like he's pretty sick or something, did that idiot come to practice while he's sick?!

Twenty minutes into practice and I'm not so sure how much longer he can hold out. His eyes are even more unfocused, his face would occasionally contort into an expression of pure agony and he knew Hinata could see he was getting looks from the others as he panted far too heavily. He kept gulping water down like a fish as he always does when the call came for a break out of concern for Hinata. It was too late that I noticed he had left the gym and gone outside to refill his oversized water bottle, in the pouring rain... I am so going to punch that damn idiot.

After a few minutes I made my way to the door to search for Hinata only for the doors to open themselves from the outside and reveal a very wet, very tired and almost definitely now sick Hinata. "Oi, Hinata boke! What the fuck is wrong with you?" came the crass remark from my mouth as he walked back in.

Hinata smiled fairly convincingly for a boy so clearly drained of energy, the rest of the team watching us anxiously, before he spoke between heavy breaths with drawn out speech missing pieces of words,"Whhha-...do yaa..mea Kage-...yama?"

I looked at him knowing my face was showing the I call bullshit for $500 and glared at him, "You're pale as shit dumbass! Then you walk out in this weather for water with that giant thing as your bottle! Not to mention you're breathing way to hard this early in! And why the fuck are you slowing down you're speech?!" Not to mention mumbling too, one thing at a time though, one thing at a time. Hinata's unfocused eyes shot open in surprise as he drew a sharp breath at my words. So really this was unintentional, good. I don't have to punch him for this.

"Kaggge...yaaaaam...don...fre...ou..."I think he's noticing his speech now, he seemed to be a bit panicked but...Calm?

My frustration only is growing it seems, why can't he just give me a straight answer?! "What the hell does that-!"

I stopped in shock of Hinata's begging stare and quivering lip as he opened his mouth again, "I...sooo...re..." I froze, confused at his words, why was he sorry? Was this not just him beingan idiot and practicing while sick? His eyes were so unfocused as he looked at all of us before a small smile filled with sadness appeared as his body began to fold almost to an almost unnatural extent under him. All in less than three damn seconds he went from mumbled slow speech to marionette having his strings snapped.


	6. Chapter 5

****3rd POV****

Kageyama was the first to react, quickly grabbing hold of underneath Hinata's right arm and pulling him into himself. The rest of the team followed quickly after, starting with Sugawara.

"Wha-I don't-Oh Kami, is he okay?!" his words stumbling out in a confused panic.

"He's breathing if that's what you mean, but we need to get him to the nurse now." Kageyama responded, composure contained only by his pure shock of...whatever just happened.

In Kageyama's opinion it took far too long for them to reach the nurse's office. They had placed Tsukishima's volunteered (stolen by Yamaguchi before they could even ask) jacket on Hinata to somewhat shield him from the rain as they ran to the nurse, the combined effort of Kageyama and Sugawara (aka Sugamama) carrying him as stably as they could. The entire process had taken about six minutes, and Hinata was still out cold.

Daichi, who was running in front of them, slammed the door open shocking the nurse inside. "NURSE! WE NEED HELP NOW!"

"What in the-OH MY-! Set him on the cot right there!" the nurse shouted as she caught sight of Hinata's prone form, still breathing heavily and almost shaking slightly as the two carriers laid him down as gently as possible.

The nurse meanwhile was pulling out a blood pressure cuff, thermometer, and wetting two towels, one for the neck and one for his forehead, before turning to the rest of the team that had managed to cram themselves into the room, "What happened and how long has he been unconscious for?"

Over half of the team began to speak all at once, yet Kageyama was still silent as he stared blankly at the small twitching body he had put down.

The nurse quickly put an end to it with a shout, "Stop! ONE at a time, who was with him and who was closest to this boy when he went down?"

That finally caught Kageyama's attention as he shakily raised his hand, "We were all in the same room, but I was nearest to him. H-He...He f-fell down ab-bout eight minutes ago..." he silently cursed himself for stuttering and speaking so quietly. Now wasn't the time for panic, he needed to make sure that his idiot was going to be ok.

The nurse's eyes widened slightly as she began to check Hinata's vitals, "Did he hit anything or contort into any extreme positions when he collapsed?"

"Y-Yeah, he b-bent pretty weirdly before I caught him."

She sighed at that and wrote down his vitals, BPM 148 blood pressure 79/54 (79 over 54). Far too high heart rate and too low blood pressure. "Has his guardian already been informed he has had a particularly bad episode yet?"

Blank looks were her only response.

"Y-You haven't? I thought that one of you would have taken care of that already."

It was Nishinoya who nervously spoke next, "What do you mean 'particularly bad episode'?"

The nurse started as she began realizing that they were likely on two very different pages. A quite concerning thing if they were truly completely unaware, "You-You are aware that your teammate is chronically ill and medically disabled don't you?"


	7. Chapter 6

****Kageyama's POV****

 ** **"What."**** my tone had darkened as soon as she said those words. If this is some kind of ridiculous joke then I swear-

"Hinata Shouyou, he's a frequent visitor of mine. Am I correct to assume from the looks on your faces he neglected to inform any of you?"

"Inform us of what exactly." Coach Ukai asked nervously.

The woman sighed, "I'm sorry but I don't believe I can tell you exactly what it is, but I will tell you that he has likely been pushing himself far too hard if he has been out for this long. I suggest you try to get him to talk when he awakens, but please try not to stress him too much. I will make the call to his mother now, you all may wait for him to regain consciousness if you wish."

She walked away from us to her desk and proceeded to dial numbers. None of us made a move to leave. I don't care if she hoped some of us would leave, I refuse to move away until I know the little idiot is alright. My thoughts continued along this line until I heard a soft groan and panicked breaths.

 ** **Hinata's POV****

I feel horrible. I'm pretty confused, why is everything black? I can't see, it's too dark. Wait, I-I can't hear anything, I can't smell anything, I can't move, I can't feel anything! NO. NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! HELP ME! I-I'm scared. I don't like this, what's going on? Where is everyone? Did they leave me? Am-Am I going to be stuck like this?

NO! JUST SHUT UP SHOUYOU. Calm down, don't panic. It will be ok, it's fine. This is normal you idiot, stop freaking out. Just wait for it to end, it will be ok. It has to be ok.

See look, feeling is returning, and hearing is beginning to follow.

After what always feels like an eternity and a half of waiting, everything except sight had at least partially returned to me. Wait, what's going on? I think I hear something, why is it so loud? Ok, it's ok, it has to be ok. Just say something, let them know you're here.

"Uuuhhaurgg..." ok, close enough. I can make noise now so that's probably a good sign. Now I just need my sight, I hate the darkness.

"-ina-a? Hi-ata? Are you awake?" Oh is that Sugawara-senpai? I think it is, it's hard to tell with everything sounding like it's underwater...

Ok, it's been a little while so let's try to...Open our eyes. Just a little bit though. 3...2...1...Open.

Oh, we have areas of light and color back. Wait, why is there so much color movement? I think that's Kageyama beside me, there's Sugawara-senpai, wait Tsukishima? Is the whole team here then? Why? Oh. Oh shit.

They were _there_.

Oh Kami, I can't get out of this one can I?

"Hinata?" definitely Sugawara-senpai, nobody else would sound that motherly.

Ok, stay calm. Maybe there's still a way to at least lessen the damage! Just don't panic,"Urhmmg...Hiiih?" Well speech is still a total wreck but that's much better than I had honestly expected to get out.

"What the ** **hell**** have you been keeping from us ****Hinata boke****?"

"I-I...I'm-" I-I can't breathe. I don't want them to know, I don't want them to make fun of me. I...

I don't want them to leave me too.

 **(A/N: I am well aware that Hinata's POV might seem pretty strange to those of you unfamiliar with this experience; that said I can assure you that this is an accurate representation of what it can feel like. If anything it seems much calmer as the pure panic felt is hard to express correctly with words.)**


	8. Chapter 7

****3rd POV****

Coach Ukai watched as the small crow's face contorted into one of sheer terror and turned to the rest of the team, "Everyone move away from Hinata now." As they prepared to fight against their coach sharp and slightly shuddering breaths were heard from a quivering, wide-eyed Hinata, he was panicking.

The nurse hung up the phone and briskly walked over to Hinata and began to attempt to soothe him, "Hinata-kun? It's ok Hinata-kun, I promise you won't have to tell them anymore than you want, be than everything or nothing. Your mother will be here to pick you up as soon as she can and if you want I can kick everyone else out until she arrives."

Hinata didn't respond for a few minutes until he slowly shook his head; body still shaking, "N-N-No-o...I...It's t-time I told t-them the tr-truth." Hinata closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "C-Can you...um...?"

The nurse huffed out at laugh, "I'll give you some privacy, knock thrice if you need me."

Mother crow rushed forward, "Hinata! Are you ok? Did we overwork you? Is there-" and it seems father crow has determined it necessary to step in and pull Sugawara back a little.

"Why don't we take this slowly? Hinata, you said something about telling us the truth, remember you can take as long as you need to. You don't need to tell us everything at once."

Sounds of agreement came from most all of those gathered ranging from "YEAH KOUHAI!" that was not quite as loud as usual to a simple hmp of agreement that seemed kinder than usual with less unspoken insults.

Hinata's lip twitched, "T-Thank you Daichi-senpai. But...I think you d-deserve to know at least t-the basics.", he closed his eyes and took as deep breath, "I...I'm disabled. A-And I have been d-disabled officially since I was fourteen, and unofficially since I can remember."


	9. Chapter 8

****Suga's POV****

How...How can this be true? I know the nurse said it but to hear the confirmation from Hinata himself...How did we not notice? What did that even mean, disabled officially since fourteen and unofficially since I can remember?

Nishinoya speaks before I can, "What do you mean? You never mentioned a disability to us?!"

Hinata looked down with a face of terror and sorrow, forming words that refused to escape him. Just what has one of my little crows been forced through, to be so afraid of us? Damn it, as soon as I break out from Daichi's grasp I am so smothering that boy!

 ** **Hinata's POV****

Stop it, you said you'd tell them now stop being a baby about it. Life isn't fair suck it up idiot.

"I m-mean...I have multiple genetic i-invisible illnesses. E-Ehlers...Danlos Syndrome, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, and scoliosis."

The team looked at me in shock and confusion, not surprising me in the least. Kageyama spoke first, "What the hell is an 'invisible illness'? Actually no, what the hell are those first two things?!"

I cringed away from him and look downwards, I can feel my eyes tearing up slightly as my face reflexively forms a smile, "It's simple really, invisible illnesses are unseen to the eye causing many to not believe that one tells the truth when they say they have one."

Sugawara breaks Daichi's hold on his arm (I'm honestly surprised he took that long with how he kept squirming around so much...) and came to my side, placing a gentle hand on my own. "We won't do that, I promise you."

Looking up at Sugawara I hesitantly began speaking again, "A-As for the first two conditions... Basically EDS means I can't resupply my collagen causing loose, weak joints and-well-a hell of a lot of pain. POTS is connected to it...It-It basically causes me to pass out easily."

I knew that my brief explanations would only cause more questions but I just-I just can't do this right now! I'm so tired, I'm scared, I'm in much more excruciating pain than normal, my peripherals are still missing, and I just want to go home. Maybe that way they'll forget this happened if I ignore it hard enough?

I saw multiple mouths open to question me more just as a different voice cut through, "Shouyou!"


	10. Chapter 9

****3rd POV****

"Shouyou!" a woman's voice cried as she ran into the room, "Oh my-Are you ok? I knew I shouldn't have let you come today." she broke off into incomprehensible muttering as she fussed over Hinata.

"I-I'm fine Mom, did you bring...?"

She sighed, "Of course I did, I left it in the hallway until you're ready."

He nodded and looked back to the rest of his team with great shame, "I...I'm sorry, for everything. Mom, can-can we just go?"

Her eyes held a knowing look as she nodded, ignoring the other teenagers and adult in the room trying to understand what exactly was going on. She had known that with the timing her baby boy would have had to have gone down in practice and knew that he was more than likely internally panicking at having to tell his teammates. That part however was more-so figured out from the haste to leave and pure exhaustion above most post-POTS episodes he's had.

She walked out of the room and came right back in, splitting the crowd in front of the bed as she pushed a wheelchair up to it. After making sure the brakes were locked and his mother was holding the back of the chair Hinata transferred by practically drop tossing himself into it. Needless to say that the sight caused screams from all other than the Hinata's and the nurse.

After managing to land in the chair (Hey, he hasn't missed yet! Not like anyone bothered to teach him how to properly transfer in the first place anyways, so what right do they have to fuss at him?!) he promptly passed out once more, slipping out of his chair somewhat until friction and his mother's arm caught him, his head lolling to the side with an obviously out of the norm flexibility seeing as it looked almost as if his neck had snapped, one arm was going up and was backwards the other was hanging over the armrest, and his legs were in similarly strange positions though slightly more extreme.

Karasuno was collectively panicking.

They had no idea what was going on anymore and just wanted someone to explain what the hell was going on with the sunshine crow. First he acts weird, then they hear strange pops around him, then he looks to be in pain, and suddenly today he freaking passes out! And apparently he's disabled as well?! Ugh...They need time to process this, this is just way to much for one day.

Hinata-san and the nurse were perfectly calm.

Hinata-san and the nurse both knew how to handle this situation, the former admittedly much better than the latter. Hinata-san had been with him for much longer and knew the signs to watch for in her son. The nurse had been treating the reckless boy regularly since the beginning of the school year but had met him at the emergency room when he had managed to dislocate his shoulder in front of his collarbone when he was fourteen. She had expected a calm job working at a high school, but she couldn't say that she wasn't happy to see the boy again (Though dear Kami child let me see less of you please). Both adults knew about the conditions, both adults knew that it's effects vary even by second, and both adults knew that that little toss just drained the poor boy and he likely won't be going any farther than the restroom for the next three to five days unless carried or otherwise forcibly moved.

With that in mind Hinata-san helped her son into a more secure position in his chair, said her farewells to all in the room, and left with her son; who was know regaining consciousness and trying (and badly failing at it too) to pick his head up.


	11. Chapter 10

****inata's POV****

I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared, I'm scared...I'm scared! They-They're going to kick me off, they're going to look down on me, they're going to make fun of me. None of them have contacted me...They're probably all so angry at me aren't they?

Checking my phone again I see that I have to leave now or else I'll be late. It only took four days to recover from the majority of the major crash at least, now I just have to deal with the other consequences.

 ** **3rd POV****

As Hinata made his way to school he sadly noted that Kageyama was hanging much farther back. Similarly he noticed throughout the day that whenever a member of the volleyball team was in his presence they always seemed to try and stay away from him. What he didn't notice was the looks of concern in their eyes as they did so, hoping that giving their sunshine space might allow him to breathe easier. Sugawara; of course, fought this idea but ultimately decided they would follow it either until practice or until he was ready.

It wasn't until practice that the majority of the Karasuno volleyball players realized, they fucked up. Hinata came in so afraid, so heartbroken, so utterly distraught, that when he called out a greeting and all he got was a nod of acknowledgement he began to break.

A break is what he calls it at least, but it's more of a crack or a fracture. Think of it as a mask if you will, then think of a person who just wants for everyone to be happy, for everyone to stop worrying about them, for themselves to stop being such a burden. A mask made of pure fake happiness.

Sometimes a person forgets it's fake until it's too shattered to ignore, sometimes it works and a person truly finds people who make them happier, you can never know what will happen before it begins. For Hinata;he had been slowly healing in the presence of his team and his mask was becoming less fake as a result. Still, when you bottle up every single emotion you can and place a faux happiness in it's place you're bound to have issues like emotional breakdowns and such...

For Hinata he began to silently cry with a large smile and eyes that immediately triggered Sugawara into action. The senior teammate sprinted with speed that Coach Ukai mentally took note of for future matches as the rest were just bewildered("Where the hell did he pick up that much speed from?" " That's the power of maternal instincts Tsukki.")

"Hinata! Are you ok, did we do something to upset you, oh gosh no please don't cry!"

Nishinoya approached with unusual calmness and a hint of sadness,"Is-Is it because we avoided you?"

Hinata looked at them in confusion, why were they seeming to try to make up for something? It's his own fault isn't it? Unconsciously voicing his confusions Karasuno swore their heart's simultaneously shattered.

"Kouhai! You didn't-We thought-Ugh..."

"What the hell does that mean Hinata-boke?!"

"Hinata you haven't even done anything?!"

At that Hinata's head tilted slightly, "But...But I lied to you guys. I lied about so much and-" Hinata cut himself of as a strong wave of tears overflowed him. Gathering closer to the boy, some joining a group hug such as Sugawara, Daichi, Asahi, Nishinoya, and a 'reluctant' Kageyama, as others offered their support by presence. They also knew that the boy was infact quite small and with five people already hugging him to widely ranged degrees of tightness it was a miracle that he could still breathe, not that they didn't have to hold back Tanaka of course.


	12. Chapter 11

****3rd POV****

Hinata was so confused, Karasuno was so worried, and all in all it makes for a pretty big mess. They decided to cancel practice for the day, ignoring Hinata's blatant arguments that they shouldn't stop on his account.

It was a unanimously agreed decision that the time would be spent instead talking with each other("Do I just not exist to you guys?!"), almost like a group therapy. Hinata was not given a choice in this matter, they simply dragged him along knowing he'd argue.

Setting him down they all began to talk about random subjects with everyone. About their favorite anime, their hobbies, anything to help the orangette relax in their presence again. It was almost an hour before Hinata said a word.

But what he said shocked the gathered males speechless, and was further enforcement on the silent vow that had been taken...

"Why do you care so much? Aren't-Aren't I causing you trouble?" Hinata whispered out. If a feather had dropped on the other side of the hemisphere you likely could have heard it in the resulting silence.

"Hinata. Do you-You can't possibly-I mean..."Sugawara struggled to get his words together.

"Oi Shrimp, just what are you talking about?" Tsukishima asked gruffly. "You didn't ask for this, it's not your fault."

Hinata looked confused at the answer he received as Coach Ukai spoke up, "If anything then this is my fault. I should have read your physicals like I was supposed to; guess I though anyone with an issue would come and speak to me." ("Wait, you didn't read our physicals?")

"Besides," Daichi began, "Over the weekend we all...did a little research of our own. You couldn't have controlled this if you had wanted to. We want to help you Hinata. Please, try to let us in."

The boy's eyes watered and lips trembled as he struggled futilely to reign in his emotions. Of all the scenarios he had suspected might occur this had never been an option. They cared for him, they wanted to help him, they weren't abandoning him, they weren't laughing at him, they didn't hate him, they didn't blame him...He didn't realize how relieving this could feel.


	13. Chapter 12

****3rd POV****

Once the tears had dried and Hinata had calmed enough to breathe normally again the group of males sat in silence until a small voice broke it.

"I-I think you guys...You guys deserve to know. About...everything.", nobody knew what to say as Hinata began his tale. "When it started it-it wasn't all that bad. I-I'd visually black out and my hearing would dim when I got a blackout but it wasn't like...now. I didn't understand it back then-that it was an issue-but I always knew they scared me."

"What do you mean they scared you? Do...Do they still?" Daichi asked with the softest voice he could manage.

Hinata's lips quivered as he attempted to bring up a smile, "U-Uh, y-yeah...They're...not pleasant." It was more than that, so much more. It was being thrust into a void with no warning, which was even worse when you can still feel. No light, no sound, no movement, just panic, fear, anxiety, paranoia, and hope that it would end somehow. There is no way to truly describe how horrifying they are, even with years of experience they still were able to cause him panic attacks.

"A-Anyways...So um, nobody else really knew anything about them. Thinking back I ignored a lot of warning signs actually, not that it's likely it would have helped anyways. I-I'd always twist my ankles, but it rarely hurt more than a minute, the insomnia, headaches, back pain, being 'abnormally flexible', not being able to breathe after running even a little bit, heart rate was always way too high, so many signs..." He huffed before going silent as he wrestled to control the anger he held with his idiocy.

If he had just told someone maybe this could have been taken care of early on damn it! He was such an idiot, if he had just taken care of it then maybe _they_ wouldn't have-A hand placed itself on his shoulder, breaking himself out of his dark thoughts.

Looking up he saw Kageyama looking at him with more gentleness than he had previously thought possible for the ravenette. Whispering to the smaller boy that had shrunk in on himself unconsciously, "You don't have to continue, you don't owe us anything."

 ** **(A/N: How is it? I really hope you're enjoying the story so far! Honestly I'm still just surprised that people have chosen to read this voluntarily, but that could also be anxiety talking who knows... Anyways; I want to thank those of you who have been reading this. You've really helped me keep going on this fic and it's made me extremely happy to see that there are people reading my work! Thank you so much!)****


	14. Chapter 13

****Kageyama's POV****

I can't believe this, how has-how can he...Kami how is he still functioning? I mean, I did what research I could into those conditions and from what he's saying...I mean holy fuck.

Watching as he took in my words I can't help but feel rage. For him to be _this fucking_ terrified some asshat must have said and or done something. People don't typically just randomly become terrified of speaking about their conditions and especially not ones as serious as these.

"No...I-I _need_ to say this." an unspoken plea for forgiveness escapes in his voice.

I swear; does he not realize he doesn't have to push himself so much? That we all talked about why he might have hidden this? We aren't mad, so why does he keep punishing himself?

Gently as I could manage I smack him upside the head, "Don't you dare idiot, you don't need to do anything. The only reason you should tell us is because you want to tell us and trust us to know your story."

The dumbass stared at me shocked, like he couldn't believe I just said that. Yeah, well I can't believe he's this freaking thick! I swear if we ever find out who hurt him enough to make him like this, we'll show them why a group of crows is called a murder...

 ** **3rd POV****

"I-I..Thank you, Kageyama." Hinata's smile became very small but was finally genuine. "Still, I want to tell you at least...part of it?"

Kageyama nodded, "Whenever you're ready."

"So I-um, I remember I was about six when I was having at least one black out a day. I didn't...I didn't know it wasn't right. I just thought it was normal I guess. They just-just got worse though. Lasted longer, became more frequent, became more intense...I-I didn't know-" Hinata cut himself off with a shuddering gasp.

Sugawara pulled him into his side, gently rubbing the younger's arm in soothing motions. The quiet murmurs that had begun throughout the room were swiftly silenced by Daichi. "It's okay, that's more than enough Hinata. If you want to tell us more you can tell us more anytime you wish, but please don't push yourself."

 ** **Please Read****

 ** **(A/N: Ok, these chapters are going to be pretty hard for me to write sometimes to be honest. If you haven't realized it yet then I'll tell you now that yes; I am actually an EDS POTS teen myself. I'm emulating myself a bit on Hinata here but my case is still quite different than this. This makes it a bit extremely difficult for me to write these recent chapters because of the immense pain it causes me personally. I'm trying to update as quickly as I can but between fighting illnesses, schoolwork, and the emotional strain of writing this it is very difficult. Thank you for you're understanding!)****


	15. Chapter 14

****3rd POV****

Hinata soon found himself asleep, leaning against Sugawara as emotional exhaustion and the already present fatigue won over consciousness. Multiple phones were quickly whipped out as Sugawara attempted to shush their cooing with a slight panic. Coach Ukai remained still, chuckling slightly at the scene as he rolled his eyes.

Kageyama was still and silent, staring in deep thought at the bright haired boy. He couldn't help but feel concern bubble in his chest for the other teen. He had done some research after all, they all had. He knew that there was more than met the eye with this story, something happened to make Hinata so afraid, no-so _terrified_ to speak up about this. He knew that there was skepticism about the conditions existences being true from some doctors and regular people, and that members of the EDS and the many other various disabled communities have a common issue with ableism and harassment but, Hinata? He's just-He's too kind! They must have been kinder than to do that, right? People couldn't have possibly been that cruel to such a kind kid, right? Even as Kageyama tried to think positively he knew in his heart that there were always people who were capable of unimaginable cruelty, even if they themselves don't see it.

Finally moving he grabbed his team jacket from behind him and draped it over Hinata's shoulders. Sugawara shot him a grateful look before turning his focus towards trying to move Hinata into a more comfortable position for his back and neck without waking him. A task made considerably easier with Hinata being out cold but still a mighty challenge as Hinata was apparently the type to try to cuddle when sleeping.

"Does he even have anyone to talk about this stuff to? Or even just someone who knows and is still there for him?" Kageyama's thoughts escaped his lips as he moved away with a small whisper heard by all those conscious, effectively resulting in their total silence and complete stop of all movement.

Coach Ukai quickly burst into action with a determined aura radiating off of him, "Team, I think we can all agree that we know what needs to be done..."

"So, I think that we're all in agreement then?" Ukai stated more than asked but still received firm nods.

"Hmn, the current plan for the Hinata Protection Squad is a go with all of us it would seem." Tsukkishima spoke calmly as said boy slept on, completely unaware of his newly acquired group of 'official' protectors. "Now that we have taken care of that, shouldn't we take him to the nurse to rest and be taken home? Or at least call Hinata-san to pick him up from here?"

"But we still don't have answers about most of this stuff!" Nishinoya quickly blurted out causing Tsukkishima to look at him incredulously.

"I doubt we could get him to tell us everything so soon, and certainly not without him panicking and losing some part of his trust in us all. I also sincerely doubt that any of us would want to force him into talking either. If he talks to us, it should be because he trusts us to know and feels comfortable enough with everything to tell us."

Nishinoya nodded grimly, not having realized before just how his kouhai would have likely reacted to questioning.

"I should have his mother's number on his physical, so no need to go to the nurse or wait for Hinata to wake up to call her."

"Great, I'll go-"

"Wait, hold on just a minute. I think we're all missing a pretty big detail here..." Tanaka started out, "Coach Ukai has all of our physicals, and has read them right? So then how and why didn't he know about any of this either? I mean, he was just as surprised as the rest of us when Hinata passed out and Hinata's doctor would have definitely made at least some kind note on his conditions! Any semi-competent doctor would have!"

Motion once again halted at the surprisingly intelligent question from an even more surprising source only to be broken by the very person subject to the question,

"Wait a second...Do you mean that I'm actually supposed to read all of those things?!"

After a few seconds of unbelieving silence and wide eyed staring on the part of the players out came a unified cry from almost all of them, "YES!"

" _Why_ didn't anyone tell me that?!"

"Sshhhh! Guys!" came a whispered shout, "Quiet down, you're going to wake up Hinata if you keep on shouting like that!"

"Sorry Suga..."

 **(A/N: Ok guys, this one catches you up to the original! Unfortunately that also means that updates will be taking longer from now on, but I will do my best to not take excessively long. I want to thank all of you who left reviews, I appreciate them a lot!)**


	16. Chapter 15

****3rd POV****

It had been a few weeks since the team discovered Hinata's secret, as well as a few weeks of them trying to adjust themselves to their newfound knowledge. Hinata had already understood that they'd need an adjustment period and while it was annoying at times, it was also a relief. He didn't have to be as worried about not being able to relocate something himself, about not being able to get his own water, or having too rough of a day to safely practice because they knew. They understood, they _cared_ , they wouldn't allow him to risk his health and or safety so carelessly.

They had spent a portion of practice watching videos on different methods of relocating various joints, after having Hinata make a list of the most commonly dislocated, while Hinata would occasionally chime in on what they shouldn't do with him, what else they should do, and if they should ask him because it varies, and what to do if it won't go back in. The last one was a simple, "Well, I usually just work it back in at that point." which resulted in a mix of shock and horror struck looks on everyone's faces at the mental image of Hinata's example of him waking around on a dislocated hip because he couldn't get it back in fully.

Yamaguchi asked him why he didn't go to the hospital or call 911 for his worse dislocations to which he dryly replied with "Yeah, and all the fees, disbelief, and time wasting that comes with it."

Hinata began a simplified explanation about how when you come in with a 'supposedly' dislocated joint they will always take imaging of it, even if it's literally bending backwards right in front of their eyes or poking out too far from the other this is sometimes good since on rare occasions it's actually something else, this also means going there when you've dislocated means you are waiting around with pain amassing because they won't relocate it.

They frequently doubt or right out refuse to believe that EDSers have dislocated before due to the disorder making the joints too loose to typically leave any marks from past dislocations, not to mention they rarely ever have heard of EDS and those that have sometimes think of it as a made up illness since they can't see it.

It was honestly one of the worst things about having invisible illnesses. He doesn't get why people can't just seem to accept that his illness is legitimate just because they can't physically see it, they can't see Lyme's Disease either can they? So if they can believe in one illness that can't be physically seen, why can't they believe in others?

Most of them had become somewhat calmer in their helping frenzy, though they were all still very protective of him, much to Hinata's confusion. They made sure someone was with him almost constantly, brought extra Propel ****(A flavored water with electrolytes and no sugar made by Gatorade)**** for him incase he started running low or was out, made sure his braces were on correctly, and they only became even more protective as a joint training camp was announced. After all, more people = more threats. That did not please the Hinata Protection Squad (HPS for short), that did not please them at all.

Now Hinata wasn't exactly the brightest person intellectually, and he was certainly very confused about what was going on, but he knew one thing was certain beyond all doubts. This training camp was going to be an eventful one.

 **(A/N: So I have managed to get sick multiple times the past few weeks, and am still currently sick. I should warn you all that I have a wrecked immune system and with it being winter I'll be sick even more often. I also will take longer to get over illnesses than most people. I know that slow updates can be frustrating but please try to bare with me!)**


	17. Chapter 16

****3rd POV****  
After the announcement the time spent watching videos on relocation was shifted towards how to hide Hinata's illnesses. Communal baths were a possible risk since there was no good way to explain his stretch marks, some of his various medications were both as needed and at certain times of the day as opposed to just morning and night, his bottle of B12 wasn't too out of place but certainly would bring some questions with repeated use ****(It's a vitamin that helps with energy, they can come in a lot of different forms but I usually hear that the liquid works best and that's also the kind that I use soo...)**** , his frequent water and bathroom breaks would seem odd to those who didn't know, all in all it was a bit of a mess.

Only with the baths was Ukai able to assure them all that there was nothing to fear, and that was to either have bathing times determined by teams or Hinata could even ask to bathe in privacy if he wishes. They reasoned that he would just have to wear longer shorts and shirts than he had been wearing to practices recently. He frowned slightly and shook his head, saying he couldn't wear shorts outside of their gym anymore. He had noticed the newest stretch marks that had appeared, this time on his the backside of lower knee and stretched downwards for about three and a half inches onto his calves only two and a half weeks ago. He knew that his team was used to his marks and wouldn't say anything about them, but were the other teams like that? He didn't want to chance it, he needed to cover them up during the training camp.

He would have to try to salt load discreetly and hope he wouldn't need his migraine medication while out, Sumatriptan wasn't exactly something that he could pass off as an Advil considering it's not anything close to the same shape and packaged individually (And he couldn't always get it open, but then neither can most of those he's had to ask on their first or fifth try). B12 and his water consumption would just have to be dealt with.

There wasn't any safe way to change that, he barely made it through on about 240oz a day and a training camp means he needs even more hydration and energy. The only saving grace is that with that much fluid consumed daily you tend to learn how to hold it a whole lot better than others could and how to drink the water to best manage that. That said he still needed more bathroom breaks than anyone else would seeing as he was still drinking about 5x the amount typically recommended for an average sized person and with his smaller size means also means he has a smaller bladder to match. Well, he'd just have to figure it out the best he could when he got there and hope for the best! It's not like he knew the layout, he truly couldn't plan ahead for this trip, it's up to luck now. At least if it all goes wrong at some point, there's one final plan still ready for play.

The teams attending were Nekoma, Aodajohsai, Fukurodani, and; of course, Karasuno.

 ** **(AN:Ok you guys, it's finally here! Sorry it took so long! I'm going through a really stressful time right now so and something extremely big just came up recently that I might have to deal with. It's going to take longer than usual for me to get the next chapter out, I hope you all understand and I'll let you know if anything comes up!)****


	18. Chapter 17

****Hinata's POV Night Before the Trip****

This is so not good. So not good that I didn't even plan properly for this in advance like I did with other things because I would only stress about it! But just look how that turned out! Oh crap, okay Hinata keep smiling. That's all you've got to do. We have something of a plan now, we're going to be okay. They won't know anything's wrong, but what about the team? They'll be keeping a close eye on me during this trip what if...No. It will be okay. It has to be...

Oh. It's nearly 12, I-I should go to bed shouldn't I? Yeah, bed. That sounds nice.

 ** **3rd POV The Next Day****

The team had gathered at the crack of dawn, some not even bothering to fully groom themselves before coming, waiting for the bus to arrive so they could begin boarding and their travel to their destination in Gunma prefecture. While Hinata was silently dreading the increased altitude he would have to endure, he was also relieved that Coach Ukai had made theirs arrangements for the hot springs, as you don't bring four groups of teenagers and expect them not to eventually whine enough to get at least a trip or two out of you (especially if 'such and such team got to go!'), and ensured Hinata could go more than the others. Ukai had heard of the horrors of temperature change and altitude on pain and he wasn't exactly going to just allow the boy to suffer.

The owner was a kindly older man who suffered from arthritis and knew for himself that the weather and altitude wasn't very friendly on old injuries, illnesses that cause chronic pain, and the like. Especially to those who had less experience with the area. When hearing the situation he had offered that Hinata could come at whatever time he needed to, and made Coach Ukai feel like a little kid when he was fiercely reprimanded for even hinting that he'd give extra payment to the man for any spontaneous visits he may have. He may run a business but he wasn't cruel! There's a difference between sore muscles and excruciating pain being aggravated further!

Hinata himself had been mentally going through his checklist repeatedly, making sure he had everything that he needed. He had compression pants, tape, meds, B12, mini fan, extra braces, extra earplugs, two extra pairs of sunglasses, compression socks, and they had already loaded his case of Propel and Powerade along with the small bucket of salty snacks his mother had prepared already. Not to mention the other waters and snacks in his smaller draw string for the trip.

Everyone could tell he was anxious about this, staying for a week with three teams was different than having a match. There was a much longer stretch of time for something to go wrong, and they all knew that there were going to be questions on Hinata's habits and what can be considered oddities. They had Bokuto there for Kami's sake. Of course, now thinking about it, with Bokuto being one of those in attendance...You know what, on second thought perhaps they'll get less questions than they thought after all.

"Hinata-kun?" Sugawara began softly, trying not to startle him. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

The boy in question jumped noticeably, "No!" he blurted as he practically shouted it out in a half panic, but never made a move to retract it.

Sugawara smiled a slightly worried smile, "Alright, but let me know if you change your mind." As he walked away Hinata couldn't help but let out a slight sigh of relief. He hoped he hadn't seemed rude, oh but what if he did? Should he apologize? Wait no, he'll just be bothering him more. Oh, why did he have to be so needy?! He's already made him worried, now he's probably made him upset too! He should have just stayed home, better yet he should have let himself drain of sodium and fluids so he wouldn't even be conscious enough for them to drag along. Maybe if he _really_ tries he can-

"Alright!" Tanaka shouted, he seems to have been both injected with pure caffeine and then slapped further awake at some point, as evidenced by the redness on his cheek. Judging from who he's standing around Hinata was willing to bet it was Tsukishima (He was very much displeased with having to leave him bed so early in the morning, and everyone was quite frankly just surprised he remembered to grab his luggage. This is mainly due to him being mostly asleep, is still wearing dino slippers and not one has his grip loosened on the dinosaur plushie he brought with him. How he actually carried his bags and set them down without loosening his grip is a mystery they aren't sure they're prepared to solve.). Ah, yep. There's slap number two. "The bus is here!"

Hinata turned to see for himself. Indeed; pulling into the parking lot was a charter bus. He picked up him bags and let out a sigh once more, guess there was no real way to run away now.

 ** **(AN Hope you guys weren't expecting this story to be full of sunshine and rainbows, 'cause I've only just begun to show you Hinata's view! And let's be honest, I'm pretty sure the title of the story should be more than a small hint to that. And I'm so sorry I didn't warn you guys! If you've checked my Wattpad you've see the AN I made about a month ago, and you've seen that I had an operation done semi-recently. It's nothing big but this could possibly lead to me having a bigger surgery. I want to just say to you all that I refuse to abandon this story and will keep writing it until it's completion, so please have no worries about that happening.)****


	19. Chapter 18

****3rd POV****

The teens boarded for the long trek, Tsukishima took a bit of gentle guidance from Yamaguchi but he made it on board as well. The chatter was a bit louder than Hinata would've liked but all of it too quiet to make out most of it. Kageyama sat beside him quietly, his hair showed no signs of it's usual maintenance. His drawstring bag for the trip was on his lap still as he debated whether or not he should just pull out some earplugs before he put it down. Giving up as the chatter wasn't likely to die down and the trip was a long one he pulled out a pair from the foam package, having had the forethought to bring silicone as well incase he needed a pair but was in water, pressed and rolled each for a second before pushing them gently into his ears to expand with a practiced ease. As he looked back up Kageyama was staring with slightly wide eyes.

Ookaay, weird. "What?" Hinata asked him.

"That's how..." he whispered.

Ok, and now he was really confused. "How what?"

Kageyama blushed slightly, "I tried to used earplugs once and, well..."

It took Hinata a second to understand what he meant and tried his best to hold down his smile, "You tried to just shove them in, didn't you?" Kageyama nodded embarrassedly as Hinata lost control of a small bit of his laughter, "Don't worry about it, I did the same thing the first time I used them."

Kageyama looked a bit shocked, "Really?"

Hinata chuckled, "Yep, I was seven years old and when my mom handed me a pair she just told me to put them in. So, I did. I found it rather uncomfortable though. Worse I had these strange purple pieces sticking out of my ears so far that people kept staring at me like I was really Frankenstein's monster."

Kageyama was laughing at his story, "Oh man, mine were at least skin tone, but it was so uncomfortable."

"Do you need a pair? I brought two packs of the foam."

"I'm ok right now, thanks." he smiled gently at Hinata.

Hinata's chest tightened a bit at the sight, he just knew his pulse picked up some. What the hell? He was just smiling idiot, why are you getting like this? What even is like this? What's happening? Ok, relax dumbass, don't want him thinking something's wrong.

"Oi! Everyone settle down and pick a seat already, yes you Tanaka! We're about to start moving, so only be getting up if you really must!", Hinata silently thanked Kami for Coach Ukai as he shouted over the racket that had built over the short period on the bus and gained everyone's attention. Well; that and a very well aimed dinosaur slipper to the face.

 ** **(AN: If you guys ever use ear plugs make sure you know how to use that kind. They**** ** **can**** ** **rip in your ear and that is an issue, plus as Hinata and Kageyama said putting them in incorrectly can be super uncomfortable. Also, yep! Hinata's story was mostly true. It was actually my dad but he handed me a pair of earplugs when we were all at a college football game and proceeded to tell six year old me to put them in, and I had never even seen earplugs before. Turned out about as well as you'd expect and for some reason my parents decided not to stop me. Also, not sure how exactly but I think I somehow keep accidentally adding bits of Kagehina into the story? Just to let you guys know that was not intentional, I wasn't really planning to put ships in this story, but I am basically just a slave to my brain so I guess you guys get some Kagehina. I wasn't even aware that it was happening until I reread it and even in this chapter I didn't realize it at first. Still if you guys want you can vote on this and I can remove where I've accidentally added it or leave it be. Voting would be on both Wattpad and )****


	20. Chapter 19

****3rd POV****

Hinata was always so very thankful on occasions like these for his all too commonly practiced abilities in holding absurd amounts of fluids for long periods when he's once again stuck in a situation like this. Whether it be at school, a doctors appointment (They're always late, almost certainly will take _forever_ to get through, and not to mention the ride alone can take a horrendous amount of time depending on location, popularity, and transportation used), the rarer long distance bus or train rides (For some doctors they had to go to bigger cities, and there was no way in ****hell**** his mom was going to attempt to drive in that traffic and unknown environment with a small child and a teen who can suddenly lose control of their body for an unknown amount of time at any given time), and various other events and occasions where he was unable to run to the bathroom at anytime he wished.

Still; that doesn't mean he hadn't felt the strong need to scream for almost a full hour now, and the fact that he had felt that same feeling for much longer many times before doesn't make really him any happier about it. Despite using a few simple methods to reduce urgency and frequency there was always going to be limits and costs to it's efficiency and effectiveness. Not to mention, it has been around two hours since the just over five hour trip began. Though if he were to be honest, he could just go right ahead and say right then and there that there was no way they weren't going to take at least six and a half hours if they took their food to go food, only used a few rest stops, and the time it will take to gather the more chaotic and or reluctant to board ones. Though that would likely only happen if the traffic was very good and they faced no other delays on the road.

"Alright! We're taking a rest stop in a few minutes! Anyone who needs to go to the bathroom or just wants to stretch their legs can get off, start clearing the alley so nobody hurts themselves trying to move!" Coach Ukai made his best attempt to shout over the rowdy teenagers, desperately trying to be heard through their collective unrestrained noise levels.

Hinata felt a small amount of relief go through him, most of him was trying to refrain from opening the window, diving out, and booking it to that rest stop. Bad Hinata, he thought, you'd pass out if you tried that. Think more logically.

He knew he'd likely have to use the wheelchair his mom had given Coach for the trip if he wanted any hope of quickly getting off without collapsing and blacking out. Yet another thing he hated about traveling for long times, his blood flow always got so much worse and he could see there was a lot of discoloration in his legs and feet (He silently prayed that nobody looked at his feet as he was pretty sure they'd flip out at their currently near-gray coloring) so he'll probably have to find some way to prop them up and fix that. But that would all just have to wait as the rest stop had finally come into view.

 ** **AN: Sorry if this chapter doesn't make a ton of sense, I'm probably going to end up rewriting it. I guess this is what you get when you had temp of 102.4 but really wanted to work on your story for some reason****


	21. IMPORTANT AN

So um yeah, two things. One, I've recently been informed that my grandmother has breast cancer. Two, I was hospitalized for five days and just got home. Yeah...

It's basically like this, I went to the ER the day before I posted the last chapter on my Wattpad and was called back in after I posted it (Sorry it's late getting here, I only just got home again and didn't have my laptop). Remember that picc line I got? Well, it got infected. Aaaand if it was left alone it could have very easily gone straight to my heart. Fun right? Best part is that it's all most likely due to me having an allergic reaction to CHG, a cleaner used very often in hospitals and in other situations with risk of infection.

I still feel horrible right now, both of my arms are killing me sine they put a new picc in the other arm just a few hours ago and the infection while cleared enough to be released still freaking hurts. I doubt I'll be able to work on this fic much if at all for a little while. Please understand that I may become even slower with updating than before but even if I do I'll continue to do my best to work on this fic for all of you!


	22. Adapting 1

****If you've visited my Wattpad then you've seen this for a while and I'm so sorry about that you guys! I had a doctors appointment right after I posted it on Wattpad and I came back home to wifi that refused to work and then when it finally did, my mom needed my laptop for a while. Also, is it bad that I just realized that tommorow's my birthday because I just saw the date on my laptop?****

 ** **(I'll warn you, this isn't planned nor really thought out. I wrote this while my brain felt full of smoke so it was a**** ** _ **very**_** ** **bad brain fog day and I was relying on autocorrect, so enjoy I guess)****

 ** **3rd POV (11 Days After Telling Karasuno)****

To say that there was a noticeable change in behavior would be...

"Oi kouhai! Get some more water!"

"Hinata! Thank goodness! See, there's a discount on all kinds of Gatorade products at one of the stores I pass on my runs! And well; I kinda ended up getting way too much stuff though, do you want to take some of it?"

"Oi, Hinata boke. You're hyperextending again, and I could've sworn I made you tighten your supports earlier. So that should've stopped your hyperextending, that is unless you Stop loosening your damn supports!"

"Hinata! Want me to walk you home?"

"Hinata? What are you doing with your le-? *crrickik-IPPOP* "CAZZO! PORCA PUT-ana! Ghaahh... La mia povera anca..." "HINATA!" ** **(Translation at the bottom)****

...An understatement. Ok, so maybe Sugawara was sort of reasonable. Hinata really _has_ been trying to remember that dislocations are typically considered major injuries by normal people, as in they'll definitely be taken out for a long while type on injuries. It's because it's just become so deeply rooted into him that dislocations are just your typical Tuesday that he can't understand why he'd need help after he finished relocating a few minor dislocations.

He began to classify his dislocations as one of three types minor, medium, and major. The difference between the types is pain severity (Which he includes when listing the type), is he able to move it? How easy is it to move? Can he put pressure on it? How much? Can he keep going without it being pushed to another type? For joints like the shoulder, is it in front of the collar bone? (That happened twice so far and neither time was pleasant for anyone involved) Does he think he'll have to he work this joint in himself or is this one a joint that needs assistance? Depending on the answers to the other questions, his pain scale can at times become over ruled for the real final answer of the dislocations severity.

He mainly developed this system because his jaw began to pop so frequently that it was simply easier for everyone involved to have a fairly simple and known system that could work for all of his joints but wasn't too complicated as his brain fog would quickly and easily make a mess of it. He knows that it helps his mother a lot to have it this way as opposed to the way she would once try to get every detail out of him. He saw that in less than two weeks of their new systems implementation that her stress levels had already been steadily decreasing. She was always so stressed because of him, he was was just so happy that he could stop being such a nuisance, even if that meant fudging his true pain level to her a little bit. But that's ok, because he can still smile, and that's all it takes to hide it. Right?

 ** **AN: You're probably wondering**** ** **as to why this isn't an actual chapter, and why it took so long to come out and the reasons should make it pretty clear. Stress, migraines (apparently mine are chronic), heat, storms, doctors appointments, and another infection. Yay.****

 ** **School doesn't care that I was literally hospitalized**** ** **or had to go to the ER 3 times in the span of a month, they're still demanding an unreasonable minimum from me and not giving me any support, and I have barely any time left to meet the dead line.**** ** **I have no idea what I'm going to do. The worst part is I want to try to work on it, but my head will get so jumbled up that I just can't learn anything so I barely can make progress on geometry.****

 ** **My depression has been giving me a hard time lately and I've just been so tired. On top of that I ended up getting another picc line infection about a month after the last, and it was much nastier symptom wise this in round.****

 ** **Also; if you were wondering about that Italian earlier, yes this a habit of my own, although I typically don't verbally swear. I have a habit of picking up words and phrases in various languages because of cultural interest and I'm also learning Italian. The main reason for the whole multi language thing is because I typically find screaming can make things worse. So, to let it out I let out a sentence. A string of words or phrases that don't have to fit together to try to keep from a break down****

Translation: "FUCK! HOLY SH-it! Ghaahh... My poor hip..."


	23. Chapter 20

****(AN: Yeah, I took a long time. I'll explain a bit of what's going on at the bottom)****

 ** **3rd POV****

"Alright everyone! Were here!~ now... ** **Off.**** " Ukai growled at them with a wide, tense smile and a slightly twitchy, too wide eyes. Let's just say that over 5 hours + an entire team of teenagers + junk food + unholy amounts of sugar (The amount that Nishinoya alone consumed was enough to put at least 6 Oompa Loompas into a coma by the 1st hour from the amount alone. Not to mention the sizes and that most of it was _American_ ! Ukai was honestly a bit scared of and for that kid now. Humans can't just eat _that_ much sugar in such a short timeframe and still live. Wait...WHAT DO YOU MEAN THAT WAS HIS SNACKING?! WHAT THE **_**HELL**_** NISHINOYA?!)+ said teens running out of things to distract themselves with after their various electronics died, apparently most of them didn't think to bring a book + spending almost the entire time in an enclosed space = ... _*shudder* You_ ** **REALLY**** _don't_ _wanna know the details...Shit, NISHINOYA! NO! DROP THE CHOCOLATE BAR!_

The teens hastily grabbed as much as they could of whatever was closest to them and were off the bus in a hurry, leaving only the driver , Hinata, and Ukai behind. As Ukai watched the team run for safety he began to attempt to calm himself, a difficult task that took him a few minutes and the knowledge that Hinata really didn't do anything so he has no reason to be angry with him for the Volly-food Incident that shall never again be mentioned. Because honestly; if you can spike a single French fry with enough force to make Daichi's forehead red he's not going to say a single thing about it. Besides, they were the idiots who decided to test his reflexes after saying that accursed phrase, they got what was coming to them.

Anyways... 

Hinata remained on the bus, only starting to stand once Ukai had placed himself in the aisle after everyone was gone. Hinata took a deep breath, grabbed the seat in front of him, pulled himself up, and was almost immediately overwhelmed with dizziness. Instinctively, thanks to trial and error in addition to a great deal of repetition over time, he quickly put his left knee on his seat, turned, hooked an arm around the back of the seat's head as a makeshift securement device, closed his eyes, controlled his expression, and allowed himself to fall into a heavy, if slightly awkward looking, leaning position.* ****(See AN)****

His chest draped over the chair as he desperately clung on to both consciousness and the rapidly draining strength that he desperately needed to keep from collapsing, no matter his state of consciousness. Though if he had to chose a state, he hoped it was either full blackout or unconscious. He usually lost all senses during a full and hearing was typically the first one to return for both, which preferred to any others. Even if touch was usually second. Yeah, that might _sound_ great but to have all feeling, and with blackouts to have been totally aware the entire time, but be unmoving. Not because of choice but because you simply can't? Because your body won't respond to your desperate pleas to just _move_. It's...well, there's really no words that can describe it.

The position was enough to help his circulation a bit and to help calm his heart enough to hopefully get it under control, help his vision come back again from the void it had retreated to by the time he had closed his eyes, and hopefully calm his breathing. Not that he's going to remember to keep that in mind once it's "calm enough" until he finally realizes it again (aka Hey! I'm not even breathing hard! But what's that sou...? oh...). He could still hear his heart, and it's rapid rate was slightly painful, but nothing compared to other times he thought. (Other times when it made him unable to breathe, times when it made him wish to cry and scream at the agony that he could barely force himself to smile over, times when he wished so desperately for that **_**thing**_** to get out of him so he could finally be free of it's torment, times when he'd _clAw_ his chest in desperate attempts to stop the ****pain**** emanating from inside. To stop that horrible tightening, the pressure, it's going to **_**KiLL**_** him. He's going to die. He's going to die. He's going to die, he's going to die,he's going to-)

Stop. You have company Hinata, no time for reflection, he thought to himself. Slowly he cracked open his right eye to see a worried Coach. Giving him a tired smile in hopes to calm him down Hinata began to ever so slowly shift into an upright position, only half-collapsing once and thusly destroying any calm he may have previously give Ukai. He really felt bad for that, he'd probably have to get the man something really nice sometime after having to put up with all this.

Ignoring what his body was trying to tell him Hinata grabbed everything and made his way off the bus. His joints creaked and popped like a haunted house as he moved, he thought the bus driver was going to have a heart attack when his knee popped loudly enough to be easily audible.

Hinata thanked Kami that everyone else had waited as sneakily as they could (aka Not very. That's the fifth time Daichi has gone down for his bag...his bag is already outside) as he honestly had no idea if they were first to arrive and he was to tired, dizzy, fed up, and in too much pain to deal with most people. He wanted a nap and he had better get one pronto or there were gonna be some issues. 

****(AN: I'm gonna be honest guys, I'm not doing well. But I promise you guys that I have been trying to work on this story. The thing is, my motivation for pretty much everything has plummeted recently. If I had to guess, I'd say that depression and mental exhaustion have just worn me too thin, and my family's situation is**** ** _ **really**_** ** **not helping. I'm not going into that shitfest now though, it's just a lot to go into. But basically; I'm currently stuck between the circus called school, a shit ton of family drama, and the cluster fuck called known as my mental health. My family seems to think not telling me news about the people I care for will somehow give me less stress. Yeah, no. I'm a protective person, if someone I care for is hurting and I find out I want to know more damn it!****

 ** **Ugh... I swear guys I'm trying to update but I just can't find it in myself to give you half-assed writing that I didn't even put any feeling or real thought into. I'm going to be trying to work on this more frequently for you guys as an effort to apologize for the huge delay. I can't promise that updates will come out any faster than before or anything, but I promise that I'm going to be making an effort. I said it once and I'll say it again, I will**** ** _ **never**_** ** **abandon this story.)****

* ****This is a real method from a person who has blackouts.****  
 ** **Another tip for any of you w/ blackouts; try to latch onto something that's secured or sit down, then move when it's over. You're likely able to feel still so don't go thinking that if you collapse you won't feel it. And please, tell your doctor about them next time you see them. They can become safety hazards. Take it from me. I hit my head, a hip, my back, was badly hurt by glass I had broken, and hit the floor due to one before. I was 7 and I felt it all.****


End file.
